The Identity of The 144,000 | Revelation 7:1-8 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series)

Let's come together now to the Book of Revelation in Chapter 7.

I am thrilled to walk through this chapter with you today for

many reasons, but the main one is because Revelation 7 holds

the answer to the closing question of Revelation Chapter 6

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

now, hopefully. You remember that at the

breaking of the 6th seal, the people realize that this is

something coming directly from God.

The global disturbance, the the cosmic shakings was undoubtedly

the outcome of God's direct wrath.

And so humanity will flee and they will try to find refuge.

And when it dawned upon them that this is indeed God's

justice, God's doing, John hears them in their panicked voices

cry out. Who can stand, Who can escape

the fury of God's wrath? Who can hide from the blazing

holiness that he has manifested? Who can shield themselves from

his judgments? And before John is given

insight. Into what will happen at the

breaking of the 7th and final seal of the scroll.

God gives them the answer to that question.

Let's read it together in Revelation 7, beginning in verse

one down to verse 8. After this I saw 4 angels

standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four

winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or see or

against any tree. Then I saw another Angel

ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living

God. And he called it with a loud

voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth

and sea, saying, Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees,

until we have sealed the servants of our God on their

foreheads. And I heard the number of the

seal, the 144,000. Sealed from every tribe of the

sons of Israel, 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed

12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of

Naftali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manessa, 12,000 from the

tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the

tribe of Issachar. 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000

from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were

sealed. Father, we, we need your wisdom,

we need your help, we need your guidance, and we rest in the

truth that you promised to give us the answers in your Word.

And so we come now, Lord, hungry and thirsty, and we believe we

will be filled because you are a gracious God.

We thank you in advance for this message may be given in clarity.

May it deal with any confusion or contradiction, and may it

produce consecration. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

So there are two companies of people who will be untouched by

the disasters that will follow this moment.

The things that are yet to be unfolded, the things that are

yet to be realized. In the Book of Revelation, the

first group is described in the section that we just read.

They are defined by their Jewish heritage and they are numbered

precisely 144,000. The second group we will touch

on next week if the Lord wills, and they are different than the

first, but I think it's worth looking at it very briefly.

Just take a peek at them in verse 9 to see how this second

group is identified. Look at verse 9 after this I

looked and behold a great multitude that no one could

number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and

languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,

clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.

So you see, there's a division here.

Unlike the first group, the second group is not limited to 1

ethnicity. They are drawn from all nations,

they are drawn from all tribes. They are defined by a variety of

peoples. Also, we find that unlike the

first group, there is no number to the second.

There is no count. There is no exact record.

It's actually beyond a number. And finally, the another

difference to consider is that unlike the first group, the

second group that John sees is in heaven, while the 144,000 are

still on earth at this point. Now, there's a lot to discuss.

That's why we're going to take our time by investigating the

first group today, famously known as the 144. 1000 So I want

us to go back to verse one now and let me just say this from

the beginning. You're going to need your

Bibles. You're always going to need your

Bibles. But especially with this text, I

want us to travel to different portions of Scripture because it

will help us make sense of what seems to be mysterious and

cryptic, and it will be a reward.

So hold on to your Bible and let's go together now and see

what God has to say to us through this.

There is an obvious contrast between the chaos and the

previous chapter and what we find here in the opening text.

What we find in the last scene of chapter 6 is utter chaos.

And then suddenly we are faced with strange, calm, very unusual

atmosphere in this book. That what you find here is the

source of the the troubles and the turbulences that we've

studied so far is the very same cause for the tranquility here.

It's the Lord. God is the one who brings about

this peace, this temporary repose.

We read A4 Angels who are standing at the four corners of

the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth.

What is that? Well, the four corners of the

earth is a scriptural metaphor that speaks of the earth as a

whole. You find that in the book of

Isaiah especially. So it's not talking about the

actual landscape of our planet necessarily, it just speaking

about the entirety of our world. What about these four winds?

Are they literal winds? Likely not.

Again, this is another phrase that is familiar in the Bible

that refers to an unusual act of God on a massive scale.

It speaks about this remarkable manifestation that will take

place in a way that cannot be ignored by the masses.

And so in some contexts, whenever you see these four

winds defined, it actually speaks of a great miracle that

is about to take place. In other instances, it's

actually speaking about a significant act of judgment.

So you don't have to turn there. But if you're a note taker,

you'll appreciate these two references from the Old

Testament. You remember the Valley of Dry

Bones when the prophet Ezekiel was brought there by God?

And it was a. Vision, but it spoke about the

hopelessness of the nation of Israel and God gives Ezekiel

instructions of how to speak to this valley and how they can be

revived. And let me read to you what he

says in Ezekiel 37 verse 9. Ezekiel says, then he said to me

Ezekiel 37:9

prophesied to the breath prophecy, son of man, and say to

the breath. Thus says the Lord God come from

the four winds, O breath and breath on the slain, that they

may live. So here's a positive reality to

these four winds, that it's a call for this force, this power

to bring about something good and redemptive.

But here's an example of it leading to judgment.

It's an obscure passage, but again, you don't have to turn

there. Just listen carefully and write

down the reference for later in Jeremiah 49, verse 36.

Jeremiah 49:36

Listen to what God says, and I will bring upon Elam the four

winds from the four quarters of heaven, and I will scatter them

to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which

those driven out of Elam shall not come.

So there is this call for the four winds to scatter a certain

people group, which is obviously an act of discipline and

chastisement. In Revelation 7, when the four

winds are mentioned, it's. Clear that judgement is in view.

And that the Lord calls his servants, his heavenly angels,

to hold back further punishment, to put it on pause.

And I can't help but recognize something before we move on.

And it is how precise God's protection is.

Notice again here at the last part of verse one.

Look there in Revelation 7 that no wind might blow on earth or

sea or against. Any tree, not one tree can be

affected. Not one tree can be cut down.

Not one tree can blow over or be uprooted unless God permits it.

Beyond that, not one leaf can be broken off any shrub or tree

unless God wishes it. And in case you think that this

is just a text to prove just how much God cares about the

environment, oh, if he cares about trees this much, how much

more you and I, I'll never forget it some time ago, sitting

in my living room going through the book of Job.

And I've read that book many times, but something so simple

yet profound touched me. And it still ministers to me

today. And I hope it ministers.

To you do. You remember what Satan said to

God when he brings up his observation of the detailed care

that Job had because of his relationship with God.

This is worth turning to in Job One and highlight.

It may be printed and put it somewhere in your house because

it is a wonderful insight into the great.

Compassion and supervision that God has for His servants in Job

One, verse 9 and 10. Then Satan answered the Lord and

said, does Job fear God for no reason?

Have you not put a hedge around him?

Highlight that around Job himself and his house and all

that he has. That's pretty descriptive.

Wouldn't you say? And he doesn't even end it

there. Notice what he says at the last

part on every side, not just one side.

So I was in my living room, I was reading this and I thought.

Pause, Lord, you don't just keep watching my front door.

You're in the backyard and you're in the side door going

into the garage. And any and everything that I

own, you protect because it's yours.

Ultimately, every part of your life is guarded and watched over

by your God. What are you anxious about?

What are you fearful about? Every part of you, the sole of

your foot up to the crown of your head, is taken into

consideration. So here is the Lord showing,

even in Revelation 7, just how meticulous He is, just how

caring He is. Things that you don't even think

about, God thinks about, or maybe things that you

obsessively watch over and are worried about.

God is already there, and it's not just Job in view here.

Job is not just a special character.

What you find in Revelation 7 is that the reason why God holds

back further judgement is because there's another group of

people that He is watching over and wants to do something with.

And this is what we want to look at.

Come back to verse 2 of Revelation 7.

Verse two and three reads Do not harm the earth or the sea or the

trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their

foreheads. We got to talk about this seal

in the ancient world, this practice of sealing something

what was very familiar. If you were a ruler or an owner

of some kind of property or an estate, you probably had a

signet ring, a ring that had an autograph of some sorts or

initials or some kind of emblem that was undoubtedly tied to

you. And someone would take that ring

and they would press it into wax and it would seal a document, a

contract, or even a significant item to mark ownership, to

authorize it and to say this belongs to someone.

And So what you have here is God borrowing that practice in order

to communicate that he is looking to identify a certain

group of people in order to authenticate His ownership and

to protect them. And so he tells these angels,

let's stop here because we still have to seal the servants of our

God. And listen, this should not be

unfamiliar to the Old Testament student, because we find this

practice in Ezekiel Chapter 9. This is when God was about to

Ezekiel 9 · chapter mention

pass judgment on Jerusalem and before judgment is unleashed,

listen to what he says. It's incredible in verse 4 of

Ezekiel 9 and the Lord said to him, pass.

Through the city, he's speaking to a divine messenger.

Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the

foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the

abominations that are committed in it.

Do you see that? So he speaks to, contextually,

an Angel. He's about to unleash punishment

upon his own. He's about to discipline the

holy city. And he says, before we move

forward, I'm asking you to mark a certain group of people on

their foreheads. Sound familiar?

Do you see just how saturated revelation is with the Old

Testament? But notice that people who are

marked, I want you to mark those who sigh and groan over all the

abominations that are being practiced in this place.

One of the evidences of somebody's relationship with God

being true and genuine and sincere is how you and I not

only respond to our own sin, but the sin around us.

What was it that God was looking for at this time?

I want you to find those who are broken over the abominations

that are being practiced. I want you to find those who are

who are shattered by the idolatry that is being

committed. God looks for how we view sin.

That's important to God. But then he goes on to say this

in verse 6 of Ezekiel 9. Kill old men outright, young men

and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one whom is

the mark on whom is the mark and begin at my sanctuary.

So they began with the elders who are before the house.

So again, this mark. Is a protective thing and both

in Ezekiel and in Revelation we we see that the Lord has his own

seal which is spiritually applied to those who belong to

him so that when judgement does go forth, they would be spared,

they would not experience wrath. So we see consistent reality to

the seal. Now if you're sitting here

wondering, OK, there's a seal obviously available in the Old

Testament. It's there in Ezekiel, and there

will be seal that will be known in the Tribulation period.

What about now? Well, I'm here to remind you

that if you do belong to Christ, you are sealed.

What did Paul tell the Ephesians?

You know this very well in Ephesians 113 in him you also,

when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your

salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised

Holy Spirit. I'm sealed, So are you.

And this is, this is incredible if you truly grasp it, because

it's one of the many ways that God assures us that because of

our faith in the gospel, we are securely owned by God.

We belong to him. We are his eternal possession

because he has placed his signature on your soul and mine.

The Savior's name is there, and no one can change that.

Listen very carefully. It doesn't matter how intense

the doubts are relating to your standing with God.

It doesn't alter this reality. And it doesn't matter how

convincing Satan's arguments are against you.

You are promised a seal. You are sealed.

And the significance of this seal is that it not only

protects us from dangers in this life, but it promises us eternal

life. The same word sealed in

Revelation 7, three is in that verse, Ephesians 113.

And in Ephesians 430, we're told do not grieve the Holy Spirit by

whom you were sealed until the day or to the day of redemption.

What's the purpose of that seal? It's meant to mark me and keep

me until I am totally redeemed. He's not going anywhere and

there's no one who can pry him away.

This is speaking about just how safe we are in Christ, sealed

until the day of redemption. And that beauty, that

inheritance, that down payment that was made should move you to

the degree where you say I don't want to grieve him.

He's chosen to taking up residence in me.

He's chosen to hold me and to keep me until the end.

And so, between now and that day of redemption, oh, may I please

him, May I honour him. May he not be broken, though

committed to keeping me because of that precious blood, may be

pleased to take up his home in my heart.

Now I find something quite fascinating about this seal in

Revelation 7. Many things, and the one that

comes to mind is this, that this seal in Revelation 7 appears

before another mark that will be placed on the foreheads.

Of others. You guys know where we're going

with this, right? The mark of the beast.

The mark of the beast that will show up in Revelation chapter

Revelation 13 · chapter mention

13. In Revelation 1316, we learned

that those who would pledge their allegiance to the

Antichrist will be marked with his name or the number of his

name on their foreheads or on their hand.

And we'll talk about why that is the case when we come to that

chapter. But what does it tell you about

Satan? That he has his own mark.

I'll tell you what it means. It means that he is so envious

of God, so covetous, that he seeks to imitate him in every

way possible. He so wants to be God, that even

with God's mark, he tries to have his own version of it.

If God marks his people with a seal, I'll mark my people with

my own seal. This is how demented and twisted

the enemy is. So you have to understand that

the mark of the beast is a demonic counterfeit.

It's a dark parody of the wonderful gift that we have in

God through the Holy Spirit. But here's the difference

between God's seal and Satan's seal.

The seal of God comes upon those who willingly and humbly receive

Jesus. Christ as Lord.

Being sealed and owned by the Lord is something that you do

because you recognize His great love and how expensive your

salvation is and how sweet and loving your God is, and so you

surrender to that seal. Satan, on the other hand, makes

no such offer. Satan will set up this system

through the Antichrist to coerce and to bully you into taking

this seal. Yes, there will be many who will

freely pledge their loyalty to the Antichrist because they're

deceived, but the system will be set up so that it forces the

masses. Because in that same chapter in

Revelation 13, you can't buy or sell without that seal.

You can't live normally. And so recognize just how

pathetic the devil is as a master.

There is nothing about him that is love or mercy.

He has to twist your arm. He has to threaten you in order

for you to bend your knee. And yet we as blood bought

Christians, we bend our knee because we're overwhelmed by the

love of Christ. We give ourselves freely.

Oh, you are worthy of 10,000 lives to be lived, but I'll give

you my one. Seal me, mark me.

And now that we've identified the nature and the purpose of

this seal to protect this group, in order to help them stand in

what's to follow in these judgments on the earth, we now

have to turn our attention to the group that will receive it

at this. Point in God's story.

So let's come back again to verse 4 of Revelation 7.

There are two main perspectives regarding this numbered group.

There are some who see it as a symbolic picture of the

universal church, while there are others who understand it as

a literal count of Jews who have put their faith in the Lord

Jesus Christ during the Tribulation period.

So I want to speak on the symbolic view.

For a moment. Why is it that there are some

believers who do not see this as actual Jews being saved and

instead a picture of the church? Well, they will argue that

numbers in apocalyptic literature are often symbolic.

And they will continue to add that since we are in the New

Covenant, there is no reason to distinguish the Jewish people,

since in Christ there is a new man comprised of both Jew and

Gentiles. So.

So why are we making a highlight here of the Jewish people when

God's main program here at this point is the church?

And they would. Go on to explain that the

#144,000 when broken down, makes this case 12 * 12 * 1000 equals

this number. So you have the 12 tribes of

Israel. You have the 12 apostles and

then you have the number 1000, which speaks of completion or

fullness. And so that equation essentially

means this, that what we have in view here is the fullness of

God's people, both from old and new covenants, who together make

up the new spiritual Israel. Interesting take.

Additionally, this view argues that the innumerable multitude

from every tribe and tongue that John sees following the 144.

Remember we peeked at them in verse 9.

Those who are proponents of this view will say those aren't 2

distinct groups, they're actually one and the same from

two different perspectives. And in order to back that up,

they will go to an interesting part of Revelation to show how

it parallels. Do you remember in Revelation 55

when John was told about the line of the tribe of Judah?

He was told about the line of the tribe of Judah, but when he

looked more carefully, he didn't see a lion.

What did he see? A lamb standing.

So two different descriptions of the same person.

He heard the lion, but he saw the lamb.

And people who hold to this perspective will also argue that

John is experiencing something similar here.

He hears about the 144 if you look at the language carefully,

but when you go to verse 9 down, he sees an innumerable amount of

people from different tribes and tongues, two different

descriptions of the same identity of the same entity.

So the argument is essentially that the 144 is just an

artistic, descriptive, symbolic way of speaking about the

universal church. Finally, they'll kind of get

into the details and point out how the tribes that are listed

here are never to be found listed in the Old Testament the

way it's listed, primarily because.

Who's omitted? Did you notice it?

Dan is omitted. The tribe of Dan is not there

and you can make a case that Ephraim also is not there by

name. Levi is there for whatever

reason as well. Joseph is included.

And so they'll say, listen, this can't be about Israel because

you don't find this kind of catalog, this kind of record in

the Hebrew Scriptures. There are more arguments that

they make. That's just an overview, but how

do we make a case for the literal view?

Here's what I want to say to begin with.

Revelation makes it clear in other places in this book.

How the Jewish people and their land plays a distinctive and

imperative role in God's work in the last days.

It's found in other places in Revelation.

May I give you 2 examples? And listen, listen, listen, pay

attention. My dear brother and sister.

There's a lot of talk about Israel today, and I'm not

concerned what the world has to say about Israel.

I'm concerned about theology. I'm concerned what the Bible has

to say about it. You and I need to be informed.

You and I need to know what the Bible says.

You and I need to be equipped. So this is where you really want

to lean in and take notes. Let's look at a couple of

examples here. Go to Revelation 11.

We talked about this a few services ago briefly, where you

have the two witnesses here who will play a very important

evangelistic role in the Tribulation period.

But I want you to see something interesting in verse 7 and verse

8, Revelation 11, verse 7 and verse 8.

Revelation 11:7

And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that

rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and

conquer them and kill them. Oh, I said this before.

Can I say it again? Don't you love it that they

could not be killed until their testimony was done?

You and I are not going anywhere until our testimony is over.

Verse 8. And their dead bodies will lie

in the street of the great city. Pause.

A city. We're talking about an actual

city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt.

I really appreciate that the Book of Revelation tells us when

something is symbolic. There are times when it's

obviously symbolic, but we see here that the Spirit tells us

that the city is symbolically called Sodom and Egypt.

Now, now we know where the city is, where their Lord was

crucified. Where's where's the city?

Good Jerusalem. That wasn't clear enough.

Look at verse 13 and at that hour there was a great

earthquake and a tenth of the city fell. 7000 people were

killed in the earthquake and the rest were terrified.

And gave glory to the God of heaven.

Highlight the fact that this is speaking about a literal city in

an actual Jerusalem in a nation actually called Israel.

Be mindful of that. Go to chapter 16.

Let's look at verse 14. This is a description of the

preparation of the battle of Armageddon.

Notice what it said here in Revelation 16, verse 14.

Revelation 16:14

For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who go abroad

to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on

the great day of God the Almighty.

Verse 15. Behold, I am coming like a

thief. Blessed is the one who stays

awake keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked

and be seen exposed. And they assemble them at the

place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

Armageddon in Hebrew means Mount Megiddo.

It's 2 words. I confirmed this with one of our

pastors, Mount Megiddo. And here's what's interesting.

There is no specific mountain called Megiddo in that region.

But it can also mean Hill Country.

So it's very likely that this is speaking about the Hill Country

surrounding the plain of Megiddo, which is mentioned more

than once in the Old Testament. I personally have seen the plain

of Megiddo. We, we cross, we're, we're

traveling through Israel, the northern part.

And we, we stopped somewhere for lunch.

And in passing, the tour guide said, Oh, by the way, that's

Megiddo. And.

Then we just went on with lunch. I'm like, whoa, that's where

that's where the final thing is going to take place.

Why are we and people just, I'm staying here, I'm taking

pictures, you guys go ahead. And I looked at it and this is

the thought that dawned on me. It's this flat.

Like perfectly flat. And I thought to myself, that's

a perfect terrain for war. It's incredible.

So I grabbed somebody and said, hey, look, take a picture.

I want Megiddo behind me. I said this is.

Where it's going to all go down now?

It's a plane located 60 to 70 miles north of Jerusalem, and

it's a site where many battles have been fought in biblical

history and even in human history.

And it's the very piece of real estate that God will choose to

execute the nation's upon Christ's return.

Why am I bringing all of this up?

If the 144,000 are symbolic, should these Jewish geographical

references be symbolic as well? And if they are symbolic, what

do they represent? What?

What do they speak about? We're talking about actual real

estate, actual Jews and actual nation, different parts of that

nation. You either take it literally or

you do spiritual. Origami with the Bible, I see it

plain. It's too detailed to be

allegorical. It's so obvious.

It's so clear and unlike those who see no value or revel

relevance in the 144,000 being ethnic Jews, their literal

identity actually aligns perfectly with prophecies and

promises throughout the Scriptures, including those who

are found in the New Testament. As I mentioned earlier, there's

a lot of conversation regarding God's relationship with ethnic

Israel today. And interestingly, it was

something that the early church was wrestling with in Paul's

day. And that's why the Holy Spirit

inspired Paul to give answers. And so he helps him, inspires

him, and guides him to pen Romans 9 to 11.

And in those chapters, we learn about Israel's past and the

relationship with God, Israel's present, and in Romans 11,

Israel's future. Let's turn to Romans 11 and

let's skip over to verse 25. Listen, if you struggle and try

to make sense of God's relationship with Israel, go to

Romans 11. Go to Romans 11.

And I want you to see what he says here in verse 25.

This is brilliant Paul speaking to many Gentiles, and he says

this lest you be wise in your own sight.

Pause. In other words, I don't want you

to come up with your own idea of how this all works.

I don't want you to come to your own conclusions separate from

what God's Word has to say. So don't let politics influence

your theology. Don't let what's popular

influence what's true. I'm not concerned with what

people have to say. I'm concerned.

What God? Has to say.

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be

unaware of this mystery. Pause again.

Forgive me. How many people are unaware of

what God's Word has to say from Genesis to Revelation about His

relationship with Israel? How many?

So many, you have people who have come to conclusions about

this, who haven't even read through the Bible once, who

don't know the Old Testament, the foundation of the new.

And they come out confidently saying, well, this is what you

heard, that you didn't even investigate it.

You're regurgitating what somebody said from the pulpit.

Are you a brain? Did you examine the Scriptures

for yourself? Have you come to that conclusion

by your own study? He says, I don't want you to be

unaware. OK, I understand it's not a

salivific issue, but the Holy Spirit wants Christians to know.

I don't know. No, I want you to know, I don't

want you to be unaware of this mystery.

Brothers, a partial hardening has come upon Israel.

What hardening are we talking about here?

We're talking about a partial which speaks of the timing of

it. It's not a permanent hardening,

and it's not a complete hardening in the sense that

every single Jew is hardened. The early church was filled with

Jews. Your Messiah is Jewish and there

are Jews today who are coming to Christ.

A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness

of the Gentiles has come in. So there is a limit to this

hardening. There's debate around what does

this mean? The fullness of the Gentiles has

come in. The most likely interpretation

is that God is going to do something with the Gentiles,

which he is now in this church age and when the last Gentile

comes to Christ. There's going to be a shift.

There's going to be a change of focus.

Verse 26. And in this way all Israel will

be saved. That is not saying every single

Jewish person will come to Christ.

What it is saying is that the nation will identify Jesus

Christ of Nazareth as their official Messiah and in this

way. All Israel will be saved, as it

is written. The Deliverer will come from

Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob, and this will be my

covenant with them when I take away their sins.

Look at verse 28. As regards the gospel, they are.

Enemies for your sake, but as regards election, they are

beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

Honestly, yes, go through Romans 11 if you struggle with this.

But if you don't even want to go through Romans 11, what do you

do with verse 28? Just verse 28, because what do

people say? Well, the reason why Israel is

no longer relevant, no longer will receive special attention

from God, is because they've denied the Messiah.

And Paul understands that they are enemies regarding the

gospel, but that does not nullify their election.

As unthinkable and as brutal as that denial of their Messiah is,

Paul says you have to understand God made a promise to their

forefathers and even their current rejection of the gospel

does not cancel those promises. It's clear as day.

It's clear as day, and here's why this all matters.

God is saving Gentiles, and when the final Gentile comes into the

fold, He will once again turn his attention to the people of

Israel on a much larger scale. And it makes perfect sense to

understand the Tribulation period as fulfilling that

mission, a time when the Jewish people, amid great turmoil, will

be awakened to the folly of denying the Lord Jesus Christ as

their Messiah, leading to a spiritual revival as the

hardening of their hearts is lifted.

So when we're studying revelation, we're looking at

what, yes, judgments and catastrophe, catastrophes being

unleashed upon the world. But it's not just to judge the

world and give them a final wake up call.

It's also to awaken Israel. And we should recognize the

144,000 as representing the first.

Fruits of Israel's salvation, the very same thing that Paul

speaking about in verse 26. All Israel will be saved.

When is that going to happen? Well, we're seeing the

beginnings of it in Chapter 7 of the Book of Revelation.

And we have good reason to believe that that same number of

people will serve God in a unique way.

Remember, they are identified as servants of our God and I

believe that they will be spreading the Gospel to the

world. Remember in Matthew 24 that

Jesus in the middle of all those descriptions of what will happen

in the final period of human history, the gospel will also go

to what the entire world? I persuaded that the 144,000

will play a major role of evangelizing the nations.

Can you imagine that 144,000 Jews will be preaching the

Gospel and the most dangerous and trying time of human

history, and they'll also be preaching to their own brothers

and sisters of the Jewish race? So if you are someone again who

is struggling to accept this, I want you to go back to Romans

11, the passage we just read and see how Paul quotes the Old

Testament. He goes to Isaiah 59.

He goes to Isaiah 27 and verse 26 and verse 27 of Romans 11.

To show what that the basis of his argument is grounded in the

Hebrew Scriptures, he takes 2 portions.

You can argue maybe even 3, combines them together, and he's

showing his Gentile readers, look, I'm telling you this

because the Bible predicted it. The Bible speaks about it, the

prophets foretold it. Why is that important?

Because those who believe that the church has replaced Israel

will also say that every promise made to Israel in the Old is

given to the church. Well, hold on.

Paul quotes an Old Testament promise and ascribes it to

Israel, ethnic Israel. And when I found about those who

believe every single promise in the Old Testament now goes to

the church is that they don't want to take any of the curses

that are warned against Israel. Give us the promises.

Keep the curses. This serves as many proofs that

not every promise made to Israel in the Old Testament is

fulfilled in the church, despite what many people claim.

Contrary to that distortion, Paul is testifying that the

spiritual salvation of Israel has been promised from of old,

and the current rejection of the gospel does not cancel those

promises. Let's come back to Revelation 7.

We're talking about actual Jews, a real revival, and we're seeing

the budding of the promise that all Israel shall be saved.

Now, all of what we just said as we're ready to close is just an

overview. And I'm sure you can see how

there can be a debate about this and people can go back and

forth. So maybe you're less interested

in the conversation of whether or not this is speaking about

real Jews or the speaking about the church, and you have more

intricate inquiries, like. All right, yeah, I already am

convinced that this is speaking about actual Israel, actual

tribes, actual people, actual numbers.

But the preacher? Where's Dan and why is this an

unusual list of tribes? I'm not going to answer every

single question, but I think that's the most common 1 when it

comes to this text, when it comes to Q&A's and people love

the Book of Revelation. They will ask, hey, where's Dan

in Revelation 7? There are some who say, well

Revelation 7 omits Dan because the Antichrist will come from

the tribe of Dan. Where did you get that from?

That's pure speculation. There are some who just want to

explain it away by saying, well, Dan is omitted because he has

gone extinct. That specific tribe just dried

out and they're they're no longer present.

At this point we can't say for certain why, but if there is any

argument we can make from Scripture is by looking at the

history of the tribe of Dan and seeing if that can provide any

light to why they are not included in the ceiling and in

the service in the tribulation period.

Again, if you know the Old Testament, while you'll remember

that Dan is associated with great idolatry throughout the

Old Testament, you find it in Judges 18.

Even in the early stages of the conquest and the settling of the

people of Israel in the promised land, Dan rushed into apostasy.

Dan adopted false gods and promoted it false priesthood.

It's very concerning. Then you Fast forward.

At the division of the Kingdom, when Rehoboam took over, his

father Solomon and Jeroboam caused the split.

He took 10 tribes from the north, and in fear of those

tribes going down to Jerusalem to worship at the temple and

losing their allegiance, he sets up false worship.

And he resurrects the golden calf.

And he places one and Bethel and another one, where in the region

of Dan it became a. Hub of idolatry.

There are other things, other narratives and other clues, even

prophecies that indicate that Dan did not have the greatest

future. And Dan, they have caused much

suffering in terms of the spiritual strength.

Of their brethren. So if we go with that, then we

have a practical truth here that sin disqualifies us from

service. If God is sealing this group of

Jews, this remnant, in order to serve a purpose, an amazing

purpose at a very critical time in human history and doesn't

include Dan. I argue that this is just one of

many illustrations showing us one of the costs of sin.

That's why you knowing your gifts and you knowing your

ministry is important for your sanctification.

Although not the primary motive, it is a motive nonetheless.

I want to be used maximally by God.

I don't want to miss out opportunities in my life to

serve God because of silly sin, because of anything that would

compromise my testimony. I don't.

Want to miss out If you want to learn anything from this is

Lord, please let there be nothing in my life that causes

you to overlook me when you're ready to use your people.

I want to be used. I want to be fit for the masters

use and so I want to cleanse myself and I'm praying that you

cleanse me and this day and hour that's so relevant for us.

We heard it in the announcements that laborers are few.

And I believe the laborers are few for many reasons.

And one of the reasons why there are no no laborers today as much

as there could be because people are caught in iniquity, caught

in worldliness and compromise and and sins in secret.

Just get rid of all of it. Let God use you.

Let him recruit you. At the same time, there's a

message of hope here, even for Dan.

Even if you are here today and you are in sin, and you've been

in sin since we've even started Revelation.

You're interested, you're curious, you're stimulated

intellectually, but you haven't developed this hunger to break

free from these shackles. Yes, sin disqualifies us, but it

never removes you from grace. Never.

Grace is always available. Here's what's so interesting.

Some people believe that Dan again has just kind of been

swallowed up in obscurity or has so damaged their relationship

with God as a people group within this nation that they are

no longer, they are no longer relevant to God.

So we preach A literal millennial reign of Christ, that

when Jesus Christ does come back, he will physically rule

and reign on the earth. And when you look at the book of

Ezekiel, you actually get a blueprint of how some of the the

actual geography will look like when Christ does come back

again. You're either left with that

option, or the choice to say what you find in Ezekiel 40 to

48 is all allegorical. All of those details, the

details of the temple, the details of the parameters and

the allotted periods of land, all of that is just spiritual

speaking about the abundance of the blessings that we have in

the gospel, in Christ. I choose a literal approach.

And when you look at the very last chapter of Ezekiel, where

God gives Ezekiel an actual insight into what will take

place around the headquarters of the Messiah in Jerusalem in

Israel, you discover something as the tribes are brought up yet

once again and are given different portions of.

That region go to Ezekiel 48. This will be worth it.

This is where we're ending Ezekiel 48 and speaking about

that future time, that actual Kingdom, that literal reign with

real land and view Ezekiel 48 verse one.

These are the names of the tribes beginning at the northern

extreme, beside the way of Hephlon of Libo Hamath, as far

as Hazar Inan, which is on the northern border of Damascus over

against Hamas, and extending to the east side to the West.

Dan 1 portion. You see what's happening here,

the very same tribe that's omitted and people say, well,

where's Ephraim? Well, you can make a case that

he's attached to Joseph. Ephraim is also associated with

idolatry. But what's really, really

concerning to people is Dan, the same Dan in Revelation 7, who is

not mentioned as being under the protection of God during the

Tribulation period and being sent out to serve God with the

Gospel is the first. Tribe mentioned in the

millennial reign, at the end of the Tribulation period, when

Christ comes back and is given a portion of land, the first one

out of all the 12. What are we supposed to take

from that? The grace of God, The grace of

God? Yes, they were disciplined.

Yes, they were removed from this group, but all when the Prince

of Peace comes, when the Messiah arrives, who's on his mind first

as he establishes his ruling reign?

Dan, Dan, where's Dan? Dan, this is yours.

Is he worthy of it? No, none of us are.

Does he deserve this? According to his history?

Absolutely not. But that's what grace is.

Do you see that? You can even find the character

of God in the tribes of Israel, in their mention, in their own

mission and prophecies to come. Oh, what a glorious God we have.

So when you and I leave this place and somebody asks who are

the 144,000, you can say, well, there's a tribulation period

coming. And God made promises to the

nation of Israel that they shall all be saved.

And God will select a group from every tribe, all the lost tribes

of Israel. What do you mean?

They don't even know where they come from.

God knows where they come from and he will recruit them and he

will use them because he will fulfill his promises to them and

He will show the world that he is a faithful God.

And what you find in Revelation 7 is just the first fruits of

what Paul said in Romans 11, that all Israel shall be saved.

What an amazing book this is. LO, we thank you for this word.

We thank you for your promises. We thank you for prophecy.

We thank you for the plain reading of these shrews.

We thank you that although there is an element of mystery to it,

when we interpret scripture with Scripture, we can have

clarification. LO, we thank you that this issue

of your relationship with the people of Israel.

Is not separate from your character.

It ties in to who you are and what We pray that you give us

wisdom and grace even around this conversation.

We pray that you equip us further.

We pray that we would not operate in our own wisdom and

our own presuppositions or ideas.

Lord help us just submit to. The word of God and to the word

of God alone. Lord, we also, in light of this

future truth that we're studying, ask for this present

time. Oh, use us.

Thank you for the sealing of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you that we're protected from all danger.

Thank you that we're not getting out of here until our testimony

is over. But O Lord, we don't want

anything in our lives to hinder us from your service.

So all idols and all sin and all filth, Lord, we pray that you

get rid of it and use us, Lord, not because we are worthy, but

because you are, and we long to serve you and there's no other.

Way we want to live. So Lord, we pray, continue to

guide us through this book and for now we pause to rejoice in

the God of this book. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Let's stand. Let's worship the living God.